Influential Michigan Innocence Clinic to Handle Josh Burns’ Appeal
Torn Family Trust is pleased to announce that the Michigan Innocence Clinic at the University of Michigan Law will handle the appeal of Josh Burns’ 2nd Degree Child Abuse conviction. The Michigan Innocence Clinic specializes in working to overturn wrongful criminal convictions that are not based on biological evidence (DNA). The Michigan Innocence Clinic is the nation's first exclusively non-DNA innocence clinic. They are a respected authority on the flawed science surrounding many Shaken Baby Syndrome cases. All cases handled by the clinic are funded through donations to the program at no expense to the defendant.
The Michigan Innocence Clinic is co-directed by Professor David Moran who will be overseeing Josh’s case. Prof. Moran is a highly qualified attorney and professor who holds multiple degrees from such prestigious institutions as the University of Michigan, Cambridge University, and Cornell University. Disciplines include mathematics, physics, and law. Prof. Moran has argued six times before the U.S. Supreme Court and has won many awards for his legal work including the Justice for All Award which according to the Clinic’s website is “the highest honor bestowed upon defense attorneys in the state of Michigan.”
Caitlin Plummer is a Teaching Fellow in the Michigan Innocence Clinic and will also represent Josh in his appeal. Ms. Plummer holds degrees from Boston University and the University of Michigan. She previously worked with the University of Wisconsin’s Innocence Project which, under the direction of Keith Findley, has extensive experience working on wrongful convictions associated with flawed Shaken Baby diagnoses. Ms. Plummer has made numerous presentations on a variety of topics associated with wrongful conviction and is a published writer in the Stanford Journal of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. To learn more about the Michigan Innocence Clinic visit their website.
The Michigan Innocence Clinic will be working in conjunction with co-counsel Katherine Judson of the Innocence Project. Ms. Judson is the Innocence Project’s Shaken Baby Litigation Fellow. According to the Innocence Project’s website, Ms. Judson “has specialized in felony cases, especially those with complicated forensic evidence. She has spoken before the American Academy of Forensic Science, as well as other conferences and seminars, on various issues related to criminal law and forensic science.” She holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin and Marquette University Law School. Ms. Judson is a leading legal expert on the flawed science associated with Shaken Baby Syndrome. We are excited and thankful that this amazing team of qualified and leading experts on wrongful Shaken Baby Syndrome convictions will represent Josh.
Motion for Release Pending Appeal Filed
The Clinic’s first motion pertaining to Josh’s case has been filed requesting that the judge release Josh from jail during the appeals process. Judge Miriam Cavanaugh will consider this motion on Thursday, July 2nd at 1:30.
Upon request, a person in Josh's situation may be released from jail during the appeals process if a judge grants their motion. If the appeal is lost then the person must return to jail to finish out their sentence. If the judge allows for Josh's release during the appeal she may set a bond amount that must be paid before his release. A bond is set with the idea that a person is less likely to "jump bail" and flee when the court is holding on to a sum of money. Throughout his entire case, Josh has exhibited a willingness to comply with all court orders so he should not be considered a "flight risk" by the court.
If the judge grants the motion for a bond release it is hard to foresee what the bond will be set at. In the case of a low bond, the amount could feasibly be paid on July 2nd and Josh will be released that day. However, there is a possibility the bond could be set high in which case his release may be delayed while we raise funds.
We are hopeful that Josh will be released from jail next week so he can focus on helping with his upcoming appeal.
Supporters are encouraged to attend the hearing to support Josh on July 2. This is not a day to protest, but rather a day to emotionally support the Burns family with our presence at the hearing.
Please share this exciting and important announcement regarding Josh’s appeal You can follow the Michigan Innocence Clinic on Facebook here. Look for upcoming updates on Josh’s appeal on TornFamily.com and the associated Facebook page and Twitter feed.
University of Michigan Health Systems Gathering
Today, approximately 80 Torn Family supporters gathered peacefully this afternoon to protest and raise awareness of the issues surrounding the diagnosis of Shaken Baby Syndrome (also known as Abusive Head Trauma). A letter was delivered to Mott's Children Hospital, which can be read here.
Many thanks to everyone who came to the event, your support is much valued in making a stand on this important issue and in encouraging the Burns family as they continue their fight for justice.
Direct link to the WXYZ coverage here.
U of M Gathering Details
We are finalizing preparations for the June 17 Burns Support day in Ann Arbor. Click here (pdf) for details outlining the purpose of this event, as well as information on where the event will takes place and what will be happening. Please consider attending this event to show your support for Josh and Brenda and raise awareness about this important issue.
A Special Request from Brenda Burns
I want to take this opportunity to thank all of our wonderful supporters who faithfully pray for our families, and are passionate about pursing justice for Josh and so many other falsely accused families. I want to take this opportunity to thank all of our wonderful supporters who faithfully pray for our families, and are passionate about pursing justice for Josh and so many other falsely accused families.Many of these false accusations start at a hospital, with worried parents hoping to find a medical explanation for their child’s illness. Most never imagine that they might be under suspicion for child abuse. They never imagine the power one doctor can have, or that their doctor may be supported by lucrative financial contracts provided by the State to specifically look for child abuse.
I am asking for all of our supporters to peacefully show our objection to this unjust treatment at hospitals. On the afternoon of June 17th, we will meet at the U of M Hospital’s main entrance. Some signs will be provided in support of Josh and against the faulty medical diagnosis that has put him behind bars. Josh will be immensely encouraged when he watches the news that evening from his jail cell, showing that so many people care about this injustice. This issue has the potential to impact many families in our community. Our site will post more information on this endeavor later this week.
I am reminded of a scripture from the Bible: "He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6:8
Thank you to all who do justice and love kindness and thus obey God's commands. A special thanks to our supporters who pray for us daily, and to those who have financially contributed to the Josh Burns Benevolence Fund. We are in awe of your generosity and kindness. The Dollar for Dollar Matching Gift Fundraiser was a wonderful success and we greatly appreciate everyone who participated in this event.
Please consider standing with other concerned citizens to seek justice and promote positive change.
In gratitude,
Brenda Burns
[button style="btn-default btn-sm" type="link" target="false" title="Event Details Here" link="https://tornfamily.com/2015/05/save-the-date/"]
Channel 7 WXYZ Detroit on the Burns’s Story, Part 7
Parental rights hearing in disputed abuse case in Howell
Direct link to video here.Read more
Save The Date
What: Burns Support Day
When: Wednesday, June 17th, 1:30-3:30
Where: U of M Mott Children's Hospital
A day of support and awareness is being planned for June 17th. We are asking all friends and family of Josh and Brenda Burns to help show support for them by raising awareness about medically misdiagnosed child abuse. Read more
Dollar for Dollar Matching Gift Fundraiser
Josh Burns has now been in jail 46 days for a crime he never committed. His wrongful conviction and imprisonment have further separated him from his wife and continue to separate him from his precious daughter whom he has not seen, held, touched, played with or spoken to for over one year. He is being forced to pay for his own unjust incarceration, adding more to his outstanding legal debt.
We have not forgotten Josh as he continues his fight from jail! A generous donor who wishes to remain anonymous recently approached TornFamily.com with a matching gift offer to help quickly and efficiently raise needed funds for the Josh Burns Benevolence Fund. We are excited to announce that this donor has offered to give up to $5000 in matching funds raised by TornFamily.com. This means that every dollar you give toward the Burns’ defense will automatically be doubled. If you give $10 it will automatically become $20! If you give $50 it will automatically become $100! This is a great way to make your donation dollar stretch further. The matching gift fundraiser starts today and will end in a short 30 days on May 31. Double your donation TODAY by donating any amount, large or small!
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As we have stated in the past, these fund will be used to:
- Paying off Brenda and Josh’s existing legal debts and legal expenses associated with his upcoming parental termination hearing.
- Josh’s appeal.
- Help Brenda permanently end DHS’s illegal supervision over her relationship with Naomi, and work towards removing Brenda's name from the Michigan Central Child Abuse Registry.
A recent PBS special on the issue of misdiagnosed child abuse like Shaken Baby Syndrome, highlights how surprisingly prevalent the Burns story actually is. Other families, including some right here in the Detroit area, are currently fighting this same battle. Each matching fund donation not only helps the Burns continue their fight but it will help them continue to bring awareness to this problem so other families will not be torn apart by misdiagnosis and wrongful conviction.
Washington Post Publishes Revealing Report on SBS
After more than a decade of vicious debate, Shaken Baby Syndrome or SBS (now referred to as Abusive Head Trauma or AHT in the medical community) is receiving increased media attention. Earlier this month, The Washington Post published an investigative series written by Debbie Cenziper on the controversial topic of SBS titled: Shaken Science: Prosecutors build murder cases on disputed SBS diagnosis.
The report takes an in depth look at SBS while telling the stories of several individuals who have been falsely accused or convicted of abusing babies in their care. The -report is lengthy but well worth the read. Readers will come away with a deeper understanding of the problems surrounding the diagnosis of SBS as well as an increased awareness of the pain and suffering that is experienced by those who are falsely accused or convicted of child abuse after SBS is misdiagnosed. The report includes several extensive diagrams, graphs and video interviews .
For those of you who do not have time to read the entire article, we offer this summary, which will help followers of the Burns family become better equipped at raising awareness about the devastating effects of misdiagnosed SBS and the subsequent false accusations of child abuse that are tearing apart families and wrongly imprisoning people across the country.
Cenziper opens up section one of her report with a brief history of SBS, a 40 year old diagnosis defined by a triad of symptoms including retinal hemorrhage, bleeding in the brain and swelling of the brain. She states that SBS:
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“Gave a generation of doctors a way to account for unexplained head injuries in babies and prosecutors a stronger case for criminal intent when police had no witnesses, no confessions and only circumstantial evidence.”
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The past decade or so has given rise to a fierce debate within the medical community about the scientific evidence that backs up (or fails to back up) the diagnosis of SBS. Testing cannot prove that shaking causes the triad and research shows accidents and other diseases or medical problems can trigger identical conditions in babies. The report also points out that courts in Great Britain and Sweden have challenged the diagnosis of SBS based on the triad alone as being uncertain or flawed.
Cenziper goes on to explore data on SBS accusations compiled by the Medill Justice Project from Northwestern University. According to the project:
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Approximately 1600 convictions related to SBS have been obtained since 2001. This is a higher rate of conviction than seen with other violent crimes. But, approximately 200 SBS cases have been dropped, dismissed or the accused have been found not guilty or a guilty conviction has been overturned since 2001.
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Among these 200 cases that ultimately ended with no conviction, Cenziper references several specific cases including:
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A 39-year-old software developer; a 13-year-old babysitter charged with second-degree murder; and a 46-year-old grandmother. In 4 of these cases doctors later revised their diagnosis and in 4 other cases new medical examiners found apparent mistakes that previous medical examiners had made when diagnosing cases of SBS. George Nichols is among the doctors who has diagnosed SBS/AHT in the past but no longer believes in the hypothesis. Nichols states, “Doctors, myself included, have accepted as true an unproven theory about a potential cause of brain injury in children… My greatest worry is that I have deprived someone of justice because I have been overly biased or just mistaken.”[/well]
Cenziper moves on to address the defenders of the widely typical way SBS is diagnosed:
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Supporters of how SBS is routinely diagnosed, such as Dr. Desmond Runyon and prosecutor Leigh Bishop, flippantly dismiss scientific challenges claiming doctors who testify for defense are on the fringes of mainstream medicine and are just making money off their testimony. They claim SBS diagnosis is supported by years of clinical work, research and confessions. Defenders also claim that doctors do not rely on the triad alone when diagnosing SBS but look for external signs, take into account caregiver stories, and rule out natural causes or accidents before diagnosing abuse. Despite these claims, some judges are overturning convictions which they rule where based on unsound science. Trying to appeal a conviction, however, is very expensive. Innocence projects around the country are currently working on at least 100 wrongful convictions associated with misdiagnosed SBS.
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Cenziper continues her report by exploring several problematic SBS cases bringing an emotional aspect to the topic. She tells the story of:
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Brandy Briggs who couldn’t afford to pay medical witnesses in her murder trial and was forced to plead to a lesser charge which resulted in a 17 year prison sentence. Later, a new medical examiner discovered mistakes had been made by the hospital including a 20 minute time period during which the baby had experienced oxygen deprivation due to a misplaced oxygen tube. Briggs spent five years in prison before her conviction was overturned. In another case, David Long was charged with murdering his daughter. After Long’s case lingered for 3 years a new medical examiner determined the actual cause of death was pneumonia complicated by a premature birth. The charges were dropped. Long tells Cenziper that he was not even able to mourn the death of his daughter.
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Other stories of dropped or reversed cases are told, with none being dropped before the accused and their family suffered incredible emotional trauma and financial ruin.
The second section of the investigative report begins with an exploration of several doctors who routinely diagnosed SBS in the past, but now find themselves testifying for defense in many cases. These doctors find their old beliefs have been challenged by more than a decade of research that shows how diseases, genetic conditions and accidents can, in some cases, produce the conditions long attributed to violent shaking. One of these doctors is forensic pathologist Jonathan Arden who told the Washington Post:
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“A lot of people in this field, especially many of the pediatricians, make statements that are absolute and dogmatic and do not allow for the exceptions that we know exist… Do you want to be involved in somebody’s wrongful conviction because you had this dogmatic approach that it must be trauma, it must be shaking?”
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Another doctor is Dr. Patrick Barnes, a neuroradiologist out of Stamford University. Cenziper references one case Dr. Barnes worked on where he stated:
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“All of the treating physicians simply assumed trauma and stopped looking for alternative explanation. That is not sound science and cannot be the basis of a reliable prosecution.”
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Cenziper goes on to discuss the origins of the Shaken Baby hypothesis by describing the work of Dr. Norman Guthkelch who is known as the “father” of SBS:
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In the 1970’s Guthkelch came up with the shaken baby hypothesis that connected bleeding and swelling of the brain to the violent shaking of an infant. Later, the presence of retinal hemorrhages was added to form the famous “triad” associated with SBS. His hypothesis became accepted science for diagnosing SBS. A couple decades later, a group of doctors began to question the largely accepted diagnosis. The trial of British Nanny, Louise Woodward, brought the disagreement in the medical community into the public eye. Neuropathologist Jan Leetsma was one doctor who testified for the defense in the Woodward case. Leetsma, who had previously written in support of the SBS hypothesis in a book he authored on the brain, told the Post, “I was wrong. The original papers that espoused Shaken Baby were basically opinion papers with essentially no science applied to them.”
The years following the Woodward case saw an increase in skeptical doctors who began presenting research that poked holes in the SBS hypothesis and provided other explanations for the presence of the triad including obstructed air passages, stroke, congenital heart disease, genetic disorder, infection, birth trauma and more. Biomechanical engineers then entered the debate and ran tests with crash test dummies which showed short falls resulted in more acceleration to the head than shaking.[/well]
Cenziper outlines the results of a biomechanical test the Washington Post commissioned itself:
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The test shows that a dummy falling from a couch and hitting its head resulted in 112 Gs of force compared to the 6-8 Gs experienced by a dummy that was violently shaken. Doctors who support the SBS hypothesis say these test are of little relevance because they aren’t on infants. They also argue that there is research showing that bleeds in short falls occur in a different area of the brain. The back and forth debate goes on and on.
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Cenziper points out that one of the highest profile doubters of the diagnosis is Guthkelch himself:
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In 2011, Guthkelch reviewed the medical records of a baby who died of supposed SBS. After seeing the baby had struggled from birth with dehydration, pneumonia and seizures, Guthkelch concluded there was not enough evidence to justify a SBS diagnosis. The conviction of Drayton Witt in the case was eventually overturned and he was released from prison after serving 10 years. Guthkelch has said, “I am doing what I can so long as I have a breath to correct a grossly unjust situation. I think they’ve gone much too far.”
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Cenziper concludes her investigative report with the story of Damien Marsden, a father accused of murdering his 4 month old son by violently shaking him:
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Arden, the forensic pathologist who had previously only testified for prosecutors, began to study newer research showing that short falls and even birth could cause the type of bleeding he had previously thought could only be attributed to SBS. He testified in Marsden’s trial that the bleeding on the baby’s brain had likely been caused by two short falls the baby had recently had. Arden told the Washington Post, “My thinking has definitely evolved over time. I haven’t joined the camp that says there is no such thing as Shaken Baby, but I am much more cautious and circumspect about invoking it. What could be right about getting it wrong?”
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Cenziper’s extensive report helps shed light on Josh and Brenda Burns’ own case. The Burns find themselves in the middle of this vicious battle in the medical community, their family torn apart and left in great emotional stress and financial ruin. As more research comes forth exposing the shaky ground that SBS stands on, our hope is that the ground will eventually crumble and babies with valid and scientific explanations for the “triad” will no longer be misdiagnosed with SBS and their parents and caretakers will no longer be torn from their families and forced to serve a punishment for a crime that was never committed.
Looking Toward the Future
March 15, 2014 marks the beginning of Josh and Brenda’s battle to keep their family whole. One year later, March 19, 2015, marks the beginning of Josh’s incarceration and the further tearing apart of the Burns family. As we reflect back over the past year, the heartache, tragedy and injustice seem unbearable. But the year was also filled with glimpses of hope. We have seen the longed for return of Naomi to her amazing mother, Brenda. We have seen the unwavering faith, love and support of the Burns family’s supporters including extended family, friends, co-workers and church members. And we have seen an outpouring of outrage and support from the local community as well as from across the country.
As we look toward the next year it is hard to imagine what the future holds, but, our hope and faith rests in the belief that God’s justice, goodness and righteousness will always prevail in the end. The Burns are resolved to continue their fight for Josh’s exoneration and for the reunification of their family, but they cannot take the next step in their fight without your help.
The next step in the battle is to chisel away at the outstanding legal fees from Josh and Brenda’s trials and then start raising money for Josh’s appeal.
The Burns have resolved to appeal Josh’s case for several reasons: First, Josh is committed to continuing to financially support his wife and daughter even though the courts have taken away his ability to do so. As an airline pilot, it will be difficult to support his family with a felony conviction on his record. Overturning his conviction will allow him to continue providing for his family. Second, without an appeal, Josh cannot fully be reunited with his family. In April, the judge will decide if his parental rights will be terminated. If his rights are terminated, he can only be reunified with his family if he is exonerated through an appeal. If his parental rights are not terminated then DHS will control his relationship with Naomi for years and years to come. An exoneration would remove any oversight by DHS. Third, by successfully appealing his case Josh will make it more difficult for hospitals, CPS and prosecutors to falsely accuse other parents of “Shaken Baby Syndrome” (aka Abusive Head Trauma). In order to end the faulty diagnosis of Shaken Baby Syndrome, we must fight back.
In order to help the Burns move forward, TornFamily.com is asking supporters across the nation to help raise $60,000 by April 30, 2015. This money will be used to pay off outstanding attorney fees for both Josh and Brenda and to begin the appeals process. Please consider donating $10, $20, $50 or more toward this effort. Over the past year we have seen supporters of this family accomplish amazing things. We are calling on you once again to help this family fight the incredible injustice they have experienced. You can track the progress of raising these funds at this page. Please check back regularly to see the progress being made and please share with friends and family. Thank you for your continued commitment to helping this family fight injustice and become a whole family once again.
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Channel 7 WXYZ Detroit on the Burns’s Story, Parts 5
Protestors support father sentenced to a year in jail after being convicted of felony child abuse
WXYZ investigative reporter Heather Catallo reports on CPS jurisdiction claims.Read more